Archives for January 2011

PCS assists 4,200 residents during 2011 holiday season

January 5, 2011 by Roger Estlack Leave a Comment

AUSTIN – This holiday season promises to be a healthier, happier one for as many as 4,202 area residents thanks to the assistance they received this year from Panhandle Community Services.

The agency this was recognized by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) for expending 100 percent of its federal stimulus Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funds to help transition low income individuals out of poverty and toward self-sufficiency, with the hope that the season’s help lasts a lifetime.

TDHCA contracts with Panhandle Community Services to administer the CSBG Program in Armstrong, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress, Collingsworth, Dallum, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hall, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman, Swisher, and Wheeler counties.

The organization received an additional $972,381 last year from the Department through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, commonly referred to as the economic stimulus package, which featured new guidelines that allowed the state to reach greater numbers of low income Texans.

The funds helped provide essential services to low income individuals that include childcare, health and educational services, housing, transportation, job training, drug and alcohol dependency classes, and a host of other programs designed to eliminate poverty and foster self-sufficiency.

All services were to be provided on or before September 30, 2010, under ARRA guidelines. In total, over 98,000 Texans across the state were assisted through ARRA CSBG funds.

“Eighteen months ago, TDHCA was given an extraordinary one-time opportunity to make a difference in the lives of thousands of low income Texans we otherwise may not have been able to reach,” said TDHCA Executive Director Michael Gerber.

“With the help of our partners at Panhandle Community Services, I am extremely pleased to report that we expended all funds within the allotted timeframe and fulfilled our commitment to the nation’s taxpayers,” he continued. “Far more important, however, are the individuals and families who are better off because of the helping hand they received from their local community action agency. They will be the lasting testament to the stimulus package.”

TDHCA last year awarded a total of $47.6 million in ARRA CSBG funds to its network of 48 local and regional nonprofit organizations to assist low income Texans earning no more than 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines in their efforts to achieve financial and personal independence. Texas leads the five most populous states in expenditure rate of ARRA CSBG funds.

Improvements ready for 2011 stock show

January 5, 2011 by Roger Estlack Leave a Comment

The 2011 Donley County Junior Livestock Show will be held this Saturday, January 8, at the Donley County Activity Center one mile north of Clarendon on Highway 70.

Seventy-three kids from Donley County have been working several months with their projects in order to make Saturday’s show a success. Now they are setting up the show ring, pens and chairs and washing/clipping their animals in preparation for this weekend.

This is the second year that the show will take place in the Donley County Activity Center, and improvements have been made to the facility since last year. These include finished wash racks, a weather resistant parking lot, central air/heat in the front part of the building, serving tables and cabinets in the kitchen area, and concrete loading zones on the north side of the building.

The new Extension offices in the front of the building are also 90 percent complete and only lack installation of communications lines by Texas A&M personnel.

Saturday’s schedule of events will include weigh- and check-in starting at 3 p.m. on January 7, and the show will start at 8:30 a.m. on January 8 starting with sheep and followed by goats, heifers, steers, guilt, and barrows. A buyers’ appreciation meal will follow the show at 6 p.m. The livestock project auction will follow the meal.

For more information or to donate to the auction, contact Larry Gray, Livestock Chairman, at 874-2095 or 806-930-1842 or Leonard Haynes, CEA, at 806-282-7680.

Shirley takes over as new CC president

January 5, 2011 by Roger Estlack Leave a Comment

Clarendon College is under a new administration this week after Dr. Phil Shirley took office as president Monday.

Shirley becomes the 18th sitting president of the Panhandle’s oldest college and is no stranger to Clarendon, having served as CC’s Dean of Instruction from 1986 to 1990. He said Monday is very happy to be back.

“It is so good to be home,” Shirley said. “I can’t express that enough. There is a feeling of belonging and coming back to your roots that prevails here.”

Shirley said he immediately felt the closeness of the community upon his return.

“I think a lot of people under appreciate what we have here.”

Shirley most recently served as the president of Southeastern Arkansas College in Pine Bluff, Ark. Shirley’s wife, Jeannine, teaches second grade in Arkansas and will join him in Clarendon as soon as she finishes her contract for this school year.

Shirley succeeds Dr. William R. Auvenshine, who retired effective December 31, 2010.

As Shirley takes office, two immediate issues on his desk include the recent resignation of Dean of Instruction Debra Kuhl and a reduction in state funding for the college. The new president said Monday he had not had time to evaluate how the funding cut would impact CC’s budget; and as far as Kuhl’s resignation, he said he would assume her duties for the time being.

“We’re going to let things even out,” he said. “I have 25 years experience as an academic dean, so that won’t be a problem. We’ll look at advertising that position in about March then fill it July 1. We need to find someone who will be content here – someone who likes small towns and enjoys the family atmosphere that we have here.”

The new president has not set specific goals for the college at this time but said he generally hopes to grow the college and to serve students more specifically.

“Head count is important,” Shirley said, “but it is mainly about serving our students.”